The team has a policy of joint exercising with other emergency services and emergency providers, including those we work with, and sometimes those we do not work with. From such exercises we can gain an interesting insight into how others work and operate, which helps us to further develop our own voluntary service.

Our Training Officer, Fred Taylor, organised for this evening a familiariry exercise, with the RNLI Fleetwood station, which involved 8 team members being taken out to sea in a RIB, crewed by two other team members and cross-transferred to the offshore lifeboat operating from Fleetwood.

In two groups of 4, the team members were then taken on two familiarity trips on the Relief Boat 47-004 Tyne Class Lifeboat, currently in operation at Fleetwood (named Saint Cybi II Civil Service no. 40, which was donated by the Civil Service, Post Office, and British Telecom Lifeboat Fund). The team members were also shown a capsize drill by the D Class Inshore boat, D556 City of Chester.

Team member Ann Thompson at the helm of the Tyne class – look out ahead!

Slightly wetter conditions greeted the members whilst exercising on a RIB!

A view inside the relief boat 47-007 with the crew of RNLI Fleetwood.

Our team members had a fantastic evening, albeit a very wet one in the sea state 4 conditions. Upon landing our team members were then given a guided tour of the brand new Fleetwood lifeboat station, which has an interesting I.T. based training suite.

All who took part this evening wish to extend grateful thanks for an entertaining trip, to all the lifeboat men, women and Support personnel at RNLI Fleetwood, with particular thanks to John Hyes DLA (Deputy Landing Authority), second cox Paul Ashworth, and cox Simon Robinson. The lifeboat station has kindly agreed to host another visit by team members next Tuesday evening, when a futher report will be made on the website.

In return the team will be hosting a Mountain Rescue familiarity exercise in our team area for members of RNLI Fleetwood.